Kingdom Come
by Katherine-E-Kora
Summary: Jack and the boys have lead a leisurely life ever since Ralph took them in, fully knowing what they were. They always thought they were the only ones with wings: Freaks. However, when a mysterious girl named Max crashes right into their lives, everything they know about themselves is put to the test. How will they cope? Will they leave their luxury behind for the truth?
1. Snow

Kingdom Come.

Prologue…Snow

Ever since I can remember, it's been like this. I can't even imagine that my life would be any different. Maybe I don't want it to be.

Thing is, I just don't know anymore. Now that everything's gone wrong…I just don't know. So, I'm writing this so that people know my story, maybe they'll learn from it somehow. It's weird to think about, but I think it's important enough that it matters. Also, I'm writing this for you. If you ever find this letter, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Just thinking about what I've done to you…

The snow crunches under my feet as I walk forward. It feels so strange, walking. I never thought I'd have to resort to that kind of thing. It also feels nice. My legs need the motions, they crave them. I yawn, and it sends billowing smoke from my mouth. A feather drifts down between clumps of white, a contrast against the scenery. It looks strange there; an orange feather, just for me, a reminder of the things that have past. I feel as if it's been a century or two since I have seen my feathers orange, clean of blood or dirt. Maybe it's the snow that cleanses them now, as I walk. I just needed that break from flying. I look up. The sky is grey, and the snow drifts past my bright blue eyes and falls to the solid foundations below, searching for a place to rest, like me. Although, my foundations have been shaken. The ground is no longer solid beneath my feet.

I struggle just to find someplace to stop. I don't know how far I should go. I don't even know if I should keep going at all. Yet…there's so many questions I have for you. I want to ask you everything. I want to ask you everything I never had the chance to. I wish you were here. God, how I wish you were here! If only I could see you again, then maybe everything would make sense. You were always the one with the plan, after all. I never was anything but trouble for you. I regret that now. But, at the same time, I regret nothing. Do you know that feeling, I wonder? Are you watching me now, and thinking that all of this was worth it?

There are a lot more feathers now, tumbling from my wings, sloughing off of my body with the pain. No, the pain lingers actually. I'm grateful for that. It makes me feel human. At least, as human as something like us could be.

I can't see the end of this snowy landscape. It goes on forever, only hills and ice and white and the occasional orange feather drifting from behind me. That, and the blood trailing from my back, leaving behind a small, trickling track by which my follower will find me by, I'm sure. I don't care. Let him find me. Roger can kill me, if he wants to. He'll probably just lead Ari here though. Not much fun in ending my suffering, now is there? He has to watch it increase to really start the party. Damn, I should have bought some streamers. I guess my intestines will have to do for now. I can hardly contain my excitement.

There's something up ahead now. I'm not sure what it is. My vision's pretty terrible, what with all this blood loss. Is this what I deserve? Do you enjoy watching me suffer too? You can, I suppose. With all I put you through, this is your time to wreak havoc on me.

Are you…Did you have fun, I wonder? With life, I mean. You always smiled, even at me. It's something I have learned to miss very much; in this desolate world, where everything is always fleeting, or running from me. It was the one thing I had to hold onto, that gave me happiness. I have our picture, but it's just not the same anymore! I want you here with me, however selfish that is. I know you said that this was what you wanted most…but I can't accept that. We could've been happy, you know. I think…I still think we could've done it.

Damn it…I've fallen. The snow's become too heavy for me, and I've fallen into this earth. It's so cold out here, even with the cloak you gave me, it's so cold. I can feel it all around me, deep in my bones. I have no more warmth in me. All of my warmth has been taken away. Not even my wings can guard me now, they've long since withered away. I still don't regret anything. This is just how it's supposed to be. I'll be with you again. I'll be with everyone, even closer than I was before.

Speaking of which, Max and Fang have gone off. They said something about looking for you. It's a shame you're already dead.


	2. This Title Would Have Been Cliche Anyway

CHAPTER ONE: This title would've been some cliché reference to flying anyway

I sighed deeply and stretched my wings out against my shoulder blades. It felt nice to do that, to bask like this without worries. It's something that came not very often in my world.

"Jack!" Someone called my name from across the beach, "Jack, are you awake?"

I snapped up, and all of a sudden, I was back in the house again. Damn, I hated when my dreams tricked me like that. Groaning, I sat up in bed slowly and used my wings to prop myself up; I was not a good morning person. Waking up…just wasn't one of my high-points.

I wondered briefly if I would ever see that beach in real life. Ugh, whatever. Probably wasn't worth my time thinking or obsessing about it anyway. I had better things to obsess about.

"G'morning, Ralph." I yawned. The smell of breakfast wafted from the kitchen as the blonde pulled the sheets off my bed indignantly. He looked cross. When didn't he look cross?

"Good afternoon, Jack." Ralph said back, rather pointedly. My heart sank.

"I did it again, didn't I?" I asked, "I slept in too late."

"It doesn't matter." Ralph muttered.

"But it does." I retorted, "Next time, wake me up earlier."

"Just go get breakfast. If there's any left, that is. I swear, you guys eat so much it's ridiculous. You're going to eat us all broke."

"Haha." I chuckled lightly, still too tired to muster a full one. Ralph had been taking care of us since before I could remember. By us, of course, I meant human-bird mutants. Why wouldn't I mean human-bird mutants? Unlike us, Ralph was normal. Just a human boy, trying to make a living on his own, and support us, at the same time. We did everything we could to help, but he insisted on treating us like pampered pets. He gave us everything, and we had nothing to give back in return. I often found myself puzzling over this. How could someone be so nice? If it were me, I'd have kicked everyone's ass out a long time ago.

Stretching briskly, I slipped on a ratty t-shirt and wandered into the kitchen. The sound of the TV filled my ears, and I had to resist the urge to give the video-gamers in the living room a good knocking on the head. I gave them an angry look though; it was, unfortunately, wasted. Simon and Maurice were devoted to the glimmering screen, shouting in frustration every now and then when they lost. Simon, less so. He was much too 'civilized' for that.

I sat down at the bar and grabbed a plate of food that had already been set for me: bacon and eggs in heaping piles. We all had a hefty appetite, and I was finished within a minute's time. Ralph came back to the kitchen from tidying up Maurice and my room, and grimaced.

"The kitchen is a mess too." He sighed through a smile, "Am I destined to clean up messes forever?"

"Kick us out then." I managed with a mouth-full of food.

"I've thought about it enough." Ralph laughed.

"Aw, you know you could never get rid of us, me in particular." I teased, pulling my best puppy face, "I mean, just look at me. I'm too handsome to live on the streets."

"The street's the last place you'd go, you know that, right?" Ralph whispered, leaning forward a bit more to avoid being heard in the other room by the absent-minded video game players. He clearly didn't find any humor in my last statement; that or he was avoiding the topic. I didn't care which one it was. "They'd find you…maybe kill you. I would never let that happen."

He was much too sympathetic and full of pity for my tastes sometimes. I smirked and pushed away from the bar, disposing my now-empty plate in the sink on the counter across from me.

"Don't worry." I brushed off, "The school hasn't been after us for years, Ralph. I doubt they even care anymore. About us, I mean. We'll probably never see another nasty, wolf mug of theirs ever again."

"I highly doubt that." Ralph called across the counters. I shrugged and jumped over the couch, landing on the other side on the cushions with a soft crash. Settling in, I watched the screen with detached interest as Simon slaughtered Maurice at Modern Warfare 3. Roger, next to me, laughed.

"You guys never get any better." He muttered darkly, watching the screen intently, "You have to learn by watching." He was leaned forward slightly, with the screen glistening and reflecting off of his too-red irises. Roger folded his hands and re-folded them, his thoughts turning and re-turning. I could see him thinking every move through, every flick of the C-stick, every click of the bumpers. Nothing got past Roger; it was just a gift of his. He could determine everything that was going to happen in a battle simply by observing situations and mannerisms. If he knew you, he could kill you in battle.

A lot of us mutants had gifts similar to his kind. Simon, for instance, was a kind of necromancer. He could talk to the dead through his dreams, stuff like that. He could also do this freaky thing where he 'communed with nature' and made plants and shit do these weird rituals and crap. I'm not sure what good that did anybody, but whatever. Maurice, on the other hand, gave off an emotional aura of happiness. You could put two arch-rivals next to him and within minutes, they'd be making out. It was like magic. Of course, it didn't work on Roger. Nothing worked on Roger; he was an impregnable fortress of terror and bullshit ideology.

"What's the score?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Two to ten, Simon's winning!" Maurice exclaimed loudly, "I'll beat him though, just you watch!" I he got overly excited, his wings unfolded and knocked over the glasses sitting on the coffee table behind him. Roger jolted out of the way in disgust.

"Can't you contain yourself, Maurice?" He grumbled.

"No, sorry!" Maurice shot back, not tearing his eyes from the screen. Simon was silent. He didn't say much.

"I'll clean it up." I offered, eager for the distraction. I bent down and picked up the glasses, using my sleeve to rub out the water that had been spilled. Ralph came over only a minute later and took the glasses from my hands with a sigh, rolling his eyes.

"I could've given you a paper towel, you know that, right?" He pointed out.

"Nah, I didn't want to trouble you."

"humph." Ralph breathed, "It would've been no problem." He sat next to me and began to help me with the cleaning, setting the glasses once more on the table. I heard Maurice stifle a laugh.

"Hey, stop that!" I yelled at him. There was no reply. Suddenly, a sheath of pitch-dark feathers blackened my vision and tickled my nose. I sneezed and pushed them away, only to be confronted with Roger, not two inches away. He wore the same, monotone expression as usual. I jumped back in surprise.

"Everyone knows you don't need Maurice's interference for this, Merridew." He teased in a flat, shallow tone. Then, after a moment's pause, he laughed wickedly and doubled back, nimbly balancing on sofa's farthest arm with his wings partially outstretched. Thank God he had the sense to keep them in at least part of the way; I would've really killed him if he stretched them out all the way. He would've punched holes in Ralph's tiny apartment walls.

"Roger, you're lucky you have freaky, super-human mind-melding powers." I shot at him.

"And you're human?" He retorted through an aggravated frown, "Plus, I could kick any of your asses any day of the week, with our without 'mind-melding powers'…whatever the fuck those are."

"I don't know what else you could call it." Simon piped up for once, "It's perplexing, what you're capable of. I only wish I understood it more."

"Oh, fuck off, Simon." Roger snorted, indignantly folding in his shadowy feathers with a huff and starting out of the apartment. "I'm going for a fly. See you fuckers later."

He slammed the door behind him.

Ralph sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, sitting upright on the carpet. I almost felt like doing the same.

"Hey," I tried comforting, "At least he's wearing clothes this time. It seems like every other time he's stormed out like this, he forgets one more article of clothing."

"Hehe." Maurice chuckled, "My personal favorite was when he forgot his pants."

"Yeah, it's hard to forget about that." Simon queasily picked up, "…you never let anyone forget…"

"Oh, knock it off!" Ralph reprimanded. They both shut their mouths for once. They knew who fed them, and they didn't want to piss him off. "Don't you also forget that every time he leaves like that, it puts all of you in danger? If someone sees him like that, everything's ruined!" He seemed really upset.

"Hey, don't worry about it." I smiled, "it's fine, I'm sure. Roger just needs to burn some steam, that's all."

"Yeah, well that steam could kill all of you, and you obviously don't care!" Ralph crossed his arms and grimaced, "When he gets back, one of you has to talk to him, or else I will!"

"I guess I'll talk to him." I sighed, resigned to my fate of a horrible death by Roger's hand. I fluffed up my bright orange wings to prepare for the coming cold, winter fury that would surely come my way. It pulled my shirt uncomfortably against my chest.

"Thanks." Ralph gratefully said. He took up the glasses once more and took them to the kitchen, turning the tap on and running the water over their surfaces. I could hear it all.

"Do you really think Roger's explosions like this could bring…_them_ back?" Simon paused the game briefly to turn back and ask me. His green eyes looked up at me, almost doe-like. I wished briefly that he was old enough to understand. It's a shame that he was only like…six or something, and I couldn't tell him off more. It's also a shame that Roger's fuse was so short and he was practically a ticking time bomb of insanity, but that was a different frustration, for a different time.

"I don't know, Simon." I answered; exasperated, but telling the truth as far as I could see it. "I really don't know."


	3. It's a Bird, It's a Plane!

CHAPTER TWO: It's a Bird, It's a Plane!

Roger came back, feathers ruffled, ready for a good fight. He obviously knew we had planned on lecturing him, or 'plotting an intervention' as he called it, when he walked in and saw us all sitting around the coffee table in fold-out chairs. There weren't enough couches though, so it's not as if we had another choice. Unless sitting on the floor was a choice. Which, it wasn't.

"I'm a mutant teenager, not an alcoholic." He pointedly refused, "I can handle myself."

"No, seriously, this conversation is about more than you." I demanded, "Family meeting, NOW." Of course, we weren't blood related, but close enough to it. We'd been together since forever.

"Fine." Roger huffily agreed, plopping down in a chair, "But if you talk about me for more than five minutes, I'm getting up, and I'm leaving."

"That's cool with me." I shrugged.

"Good. It better be."

"Oh, quit arguing, you two!" Ralph intervened, "Maurice, do that thing! The thing that makes everyone calm their butts down! I can't take much more of this! I'm sixteen and I'm about to have a Goddamn aneurism!"

"Sorry!" Maurice explained with a smiled, "It doesn't work on Roger!"

"Ughhh!" Ralph groaned, leaning back, "You guys are impossible! Where did I even find you? What sewer puddle did you crawl out of again?"

"Haha. Beats me." I laughed apathetically, "Let's just get this over with so I can read or some shit like that. Do I even read?"

"No." Ralph muttered, "The last book I recommended to you, you ate."

"Oh yeah," I moved on, "Well, I guess that's that! Issue number one has been resolved! No more books for me!"

Roger looked very unamused still, his arms crossed in frustration. "Are you serious? Can I leave now? This is a waste of time."

"No, that was only issue one. There's still other issues." I warned.

"Was that actually an issue?" Simon asked curiously, "I don't think I've ever eaten a piece of literature in my life? Did it taste good?"

"No, it tasted like shit."

"Okay!" Ralph interrupted angrily, "No more talk of books! Can we actually be serious here?! I have homework to do! Plus, this is important!"

"Fine, go ahead." I said.

"Thank you!" He sighed, then continued on with the matters at hand in an orderly, professional manner, "First of all, Roger, you can't storm out any more like you usually do."

"Why not?" Roger argued, "I can do whatever the hell I want! It's none of your business!"

"It is! You live in my damn apartment, and you will follow my damn rules, or I will THROW YOU OUT!" Ralph determinedly asserted himself. I couldn't help but appreciate his fury. None of us would've held out against Roger's burning glare like that; and oh, was it smoldering in those red eyes of his. "You've attracted too much attention! If I'm correct, you've been on the news three times this week!"

"Make that six." Simon pointed out.

"Six then! That's even worse!" Ralph continued. The silence from his 'opponent' just seemed to stoke the coals of his fervor. "Someone from your old 'home' is gonna take notice sooner or later! At this rate, we're all on borrowed time!"

"I'll stay in then!" Roger retorted, "I'll be a fucking hermit, if that's what you desire, lord Ralph!"

"Thank you." Ralph sighed in relief and took his seat once more. He seemed to know when he had won his fights, even if Roger was yelling at him. That's the one place Roger would never win; in battles of wits. Lord only knew, he had none.

"Issue number two," Ralph began again, "We're running out of funds."

"I'll get a job." Maurice offered.

"You're eleven!" I spat.

"So?" He crossed his arms and threw me a rebellious look from the corner of his eye, "I could always be a child prostitute. I heard they make good money."

"Maurice!" I squeaked, "That's the last thing we need right now! Plus, don't talk like that in front of Simon!"

"I'd like to think that you'd have realized how much more educated I am than the lot of you." Simon muttered, "I know full well the implications of what's been said."

"Shut your pie hole, high-and-mighty." Roger directed at Simon, "They don't need any reminding. It's a shame that they have to live like that, being stupid and all. Have some pity on them."

"I was talking about you too, Roger." Simon flatly responded.

"Oh, I should flay you, little brat!"

"STOP IT!" Ralph jumped out of his chair and shouted. "STOP IT, STOP IT NOW! For goodness sake, can't we get ANYTHING done around here?! Can't you all just get along for FIVE SECONDS, so that we can have a serious conversation without biting each other's feathers off!? I wish you didn't all act like such CHILDREN!"

"They are kind of children though…" I whispered to myself. I was too ashamed to speak up though.

"You're one to talk about feathers." Roger huffed, "Human."

"Roger, shove that damned superiority complex down your throat for a moment, okay?!" Ralph continued to vent out his rage, "I live here, I'll say what I want, how I want to, kapeesh?!"

"What the fuck do cat peaches even have to do with this?" Maurice asked.

"SHUT UP!" Ralph roared, "I'm so…sick of this!" He started going on some sort of tangent then, and we all tuned out. That's when I glanced past him, out the window, and noticed it for the first time.

"Uh…."

"Hey, what's that!?" Maurice pointed to the spiraling creature in the air, right outside the window. Ralph bit his tongue and followed Maurice's finger to the single point in the sky. His eyes narrowed.

"I don't know. I think I need glasses or something." The blonde remarked calmly. Soon, we were all pressed against the small window panes, trying to get a better look. Simon had to stand up on his tippy toes, and Maurice's wings had started to unfurl again; little brown feathers fluttered dizzily from the slashes in his shirt he'd cut a while ago. I sneezed and shoved him, forcefully, into the glass. It didn't seem like he cared much. Roger was the only one who held back a bit. I could tell he was still curious though.

"I bet it's superman." Maurice muttered deviously.

"Superman doesn't exist, stupid!" Simon retorted.

"What about Santa Claus?" The crazy, brown-haired boy started up again, "You believe in _him_, don't you? What's the difference?"

"Stop it." I groaned, "And Maurice, Superman and Santa Claus have nothing in common."

"Whatever."

"No, guys, look!" Ralph called. I drew my attention back to the thing outside. It was mighty big, and seemed to have a heck of a time staying in the sky. Little speckled feathers fluttered from its wings, making a trail in the sky. "It's getting closer."

It was getting closer, I realized in dismay, very much closer. I spread out my own, pale orange plumage, ripping my shirt, and herded everyone back. The thing was close enough to make out now, and it wasn't a bird, it wasn't a plane, and it definitely wasn't superman. As an afterthought, I reached forward and grabbed Ralph by the shoulder, tugging him back too. I had thought that he would have been smart enough to tear himself away and back off. I guess I was wrong. Not a second later, the thing smashed into the window, scattering the glass and little droplets of red.

It was…a girl?

She tried to sit up, but immediately fell back to the carpet. We were all standing still with shock, our mouths agape, not quite sure what just happened. Even Ralph, whom I expected to throw a fit about the condition of his window, was quiet. I folded up my ruffled feathers and half-kneeled, half fell, to the ground beside the straggler.

She was exactly like us.

"Uh…hello?" I said as I shook her shoulder. Her dappled wings folded up a bit, dripping blood and sort-of brown feathers. I wasn't really sure what color they were at the moment. It was hard to make out. "Hello? Are you okay?!"

"Are you dead?!" Maurice joined in. I heard the sound of an impact as someone cuffed him across the cheek. "Ow!"

"Is she…she's got wings!" Ralph exclaimed, "She's like you! I wonder where she came from! What happened to her? Oh, I bet she has so many stories to tell!"

"If you want to hear them," I said, "We're going to need bandages, and fast. I think her right wing's broken. It looks like she's been shot."

"By what?"

"I think we already know." I muttered, drawing the serious tones back into my voice. I was in leader-mode now. I had to be. This was going to be just one more issue added to our list, I could feel it. This girl came from the School…though I didn't know her yet, I had a feeling this was the beginning of the end. There goes our peaceful existence, now that she fell into our lives. She'd blown that all the way to kingdom come. Any hopes I'd harbored for a future were gone.

"I'll get the medicines and bandages from the cabinet." Ralph announced, leaving the room. Simon had been oddly silent ever since she'd dropped in. Just as I was thinking that, I heard a hollow thud, and looked up. Oh, well, that's why. Maurice moved the now passed-out Simon to the couch unhandedly and rejoined Roger and I by the bird-girl.

"And you thought I was dangerous." Roger scoffed, "Just look at her; she screams danger. She's like a huge billboard giving away our location. I say we kill her."

"What?!" I almost screamed. Had Roger lost his mind? Someone who was in our same situation crashed through out window and, really, just falls into our lives, giving us opportunities to learn about things we maybe had never heard about before, and he wants to kill her? Right there, just like that?! "You've got to be kidding me! We're not killing her!"

"She's dangerous!" He insisted, "She could ruin everything!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we kill her…I mean, look at you." Maurice took up the conversation as well, "You're dangerous too, but we've never even thought about killing you."

"But she's…" Roger struggled to explain for a minute, "She's…_unknown_. We don't know where she came from…or what she's done…or who she even _is_! Doesn't that scare you?! I mean, we've never seen anyone else like us, and she suddenly just _appears_? That seems a little fishy to me."

"You worry too much." I brushed him off, "Right now, let's just focus on healing her. Then, we'll decide what to do with her. I'm sure she's got a flock somewhere. Maybe they'll come to find her."

"That's just what I was afraid of." Roger muttered darkly.

…

Within the hour, Ralph, Maurice and I had her patched and cleaned up, propped up on the couch and waiting for her revival. We'd even managed to pick up most of the glass from the window as well. Somewhere in the process, Simon had come to and had started to play video games again, trying to fix his mind on something other than blood. Roger was nowhere to be found, per the usual.

"Hey, guys, I think she's waking up!" Maurice shouted at Ralph and I from the couch. We both dropped the brooms and dustpans, scattering more glass, and went to go see. Sure enough, the mysterious girl was stirring on the sofa. Her dirty-brown hair clung to her forehead with sweat, and her breathes came short and ragged. We watched in awe as her eyes opened for the first time in our presence. They were brown.

"Where…where am I?" was the first thing she groggily asked. Maurice, all too eagerly, answered. I reminded myself to not let him be our spokesperson, ever.

"In our house, duh!" He, not too wisely, responded quickly. I smacked him in the back of the head, and he backed down.

"I'm going to get something to eat." Maurice sighed, retreating to the kitchen. Ralph started.

"Oh, no you don't!" He shouted, "Don't touch a thing until I get there, Maurice!"

"Fine!" Maurice groaned. I heard a door slam as he retreated to our room. Damn, was everyone here a pre-pubescent teenage girl?!

"Okay, so I'm in your house." The girl repeated crossly, "Where is your house, and who are you?"

"I'm Ralph." Ralph greeted formally, offering a hand. He sat on the coffee table, crossing his legs and trying to appear together. I mimicked his example. "And this is Jack. You're in New York City."

"Oh." The girl said, taking Ralph's hand and giving it a brief shake. I rolled my shoulders back uncomfortably. "…So…I suppose you've figured out by now…"

"That you have wings, yes." I huffily replied, "It wasn't that much of a damn secret, you crashed through our window, uh…"

"…Max." She said, "My name is Max."

"Max, then." I picked up quickly. Wasn't that a boy's name? Whatever, I didn't care anyway. "You were practically bleeding your eagle-colored feathers off. You're lucky you fell into this apartment and not a different one, Maxine."

"It's short for Maximum, not _Maxine_." She sharply retorted. I was taken aback by this. I hadn't really been properly introduced to a lot of girls before, and I'd never been friends with one, but the one's I'd met hadn't had such forked tongues. "And how come you aren't acting more surprised? What, did you already call animal control? Do you work for the school?"

"So, you do know them?" Ralph asked excitedly. Max looked startled for a moment, and her glance flicked quickly to the window. She was contemplating bolting, I could tell. I knew that look all too well. I'd used it many times myself, when in a sticky situation. There hadn't been many, but enough to give me the knowledge on it. I sat up straight, rolling my shoulders again. We met each other's gaze head on now, as we sized each other up. My bright-orange hair got in the way though, and I had to brush it away, making myself seem a little less intimidating.

"What do you want?" Max accused.

"Nothing." I shot back, "In fact, there are a few of us who think it would be better if you leave, right now. There is also one of us…" I paused uneasily, "…one of us, who wants you dead, quite possibly to kill you himself, but let's not talk about that now."

"Let me guess, Ari?" She sighed pointedly. I frowned in confusion.

"What? Who's Ari?" I asked.

"Wait, so you aren't with the School?" She leaned forward, then winced. Her poorly bandaged feathers probably hurt much more than they needed to; Ralph was no doctor, for sure. "At least, I'm guessing, since you don't know Ari…and you helped me…I guess."

"I tried…" Ralph defended with a weak smile, "But, we're not really used to injuries. They don't leave the house often, you see…unless it's Roger, and he hurts more than he's hurt himself…"

"Who are you people?" Max finally asked. I had been waiting for the question for a while now, waiting to show my true feathers. I smiled as deviously as I could and kicked up my feet.

"Tell us about yourself first, _Maximum_." I smirked, "Where'd you come from?"

"Jack, don't be rude!" Ralph crossly said.

"I wish I could tell you…" She began, narrowing her eyes and trying to be as defensive as possible, "But I really don't know all the places I've been…I don't know where my flock is either, so don't ask."

"Oh, you have a flock too?!" Ralph excitedly gave away. I rolled my eyes and lowered my guard, placing my feet on the ground once more. There goes my cool attempt at impressing our guest.

"…too?" Max raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of us. She sat up a little bit, trying to straighten out her wings. She had quite a wingspan, I must admit…for a girl, that is.

"Yeah." I sighed angrily, "Us too."

"So, that's why you're not acting like it's the end of the world." She chuckled, "You're hybrids, just like me. I didn't know there were any more of us…I guess I should be acting more surprised, but I just can't get over this. Are you…good? How long have you been here?"

"I don't know." I grumbled, "Maybe two years. It feels like forever though. And yes, we're…good. Whatever the fuck that means."

"Are you with or against the School?"

"Against." Ralph answered for me.; took the words right out of my mouth.

"So, you're good." Max said plainly, then continued questioning us, "How many of you are there?"

I quickly did a head-count on my fingers, then responded, "Four, including me, not including wingless over here." I gestured to Ralph, who snorted indignantly and crossed his arms over his chest. We really forgot sometimes that he wasn't one of us, though. He was with us all the time, and sometimes we couldn't differentiate the mannerisms. We weren't all that different.

"So, Ralph," Max addressed nervously, "Isn't a mutant. He's…human?"

"Yeah." Ralph admitted, twiddling his fingers.

"He wishes he could fly." I teased, elbowing him gently. He didn't tear his gaze away from his fingers.

"That's different…I guess." Max puzzled over our living space, "Your house is so small though…and in this big city…don't you guys get a little cramped in here? I mean, what about flying?"

"Roger." Ralph and I groaned at the same time.

"I don't know what that means, but okay." Max shrugged, moving on, "My flock has six, including me. We don't stay in one place for too long."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"That's because the School is after us." Max whispered darkly. That's when Roger finally felt the need to interrupt. None of us had even seen him there until he spoke up, and we hadn't heard him either. He jumped down from off the countertop and ruffled his dusty feathers up, making him look much more intimidating than he already was. At the noise, Max spun. She looked…confused, but still almost terrified.

"I told you!" Roger yelled at Ralph and I. Ralph shrunk back. I stood my ground, getting to my feet at once to meet him. It was a constant worry of mine that someday Roger would explode and kill me, or possibly someone important to me; I had to make sure he knew I was capable of being in charge of our small flock, and that I wasn't afraid of him. He prodded my chest with a sharp finger as I spread out my orange plumage. "She's dangerous! You should've just let me kill her! She's gonna lead the school here, _they are following her_, for God's sake!"

"Fang?" Max asked from the couch. She'd turned carefully, so that she was looking out over our face-off. I motioned for her to be silent, but to no avail. Ralph looked stunned. "Is that you?"

"What the fuck is a fang?" Roger shot back indignantly. I sighed.

"Oh…never mind." Max dropped the conversation. I turned back to Roger, trying to get back to the point.

"We're not killing her!" I growled, "Don't bring it up again."

"As if you could do anything to stop me." Roger kicked up glass shards as he marched off.

"Well," Maximum laughed nervously, bringing my attention back to her as Roger stormed out…again. "You certainly have a strange flock."

Ralph smiled genuinely. "Yeah, and you haven't even met us all yet."


	4. Trading Cityscapes For Greener Pastures

CHAPTER THREE: Trading the Cityscape for Greener Pastures

Maximum insisted on not staying for more than a day or two. However, that didn't work out too well; especially when she tried making a break for it through our alredy broken window and fell three stories to the fire escape. Roger had made a big fuss about it, because he had to be the one to break into somebody else's apartment to go get her. She was lucky the escape had been built there; the street was at least thirty stories beneath that.

"Does anybody from your flock have a cell-phone?" Ralph had asked after a few days of lying around in an upset cloud. He'd made sure even Simon had a cell in our flock, and all our numbers were pre-programmed into each other's phones. Though, Roger's was never on, so that rendered his pretty much useless.

"No, but Iggy's got my computer." She'd answered.

"Can you message him on there?" Ralph urged.

"Ig's blind."

"Oh."

That afternoon, Ralph went out and bought Max a pay-by-minute phone from CVS.

I never really counted the days before, but I started to now. It was Monday by the time Max recovered from the window fall enough to move around again. Roger wouldn't let her off the hook still, but it's not as if his opinion ever mattered to her case. Simon had taken a liking to her though, and always seemed to be clinging in one way or another. Winning Maurice over was easy enough; all she had to do was woo him with her comical excuse for cooking. Max almost set the apartment on fire.

"I thought women could cook!" Maurice had remarked from the top bunk before going to bed that night. I told him to stop being so damn prejudiced and just go to sleep already.

Even Ralph managed to find some common ground with Maximum Ride in whatever way. I didn't know what the heck they were talking about, but at least they got along. She even opened up to us a bit, telling us little factoids about the flock that had been told to go on without her. They were to meet up outside the city in one of the many barn houses along the highway there. They all had funny names, like Max's; for instance, there was Angel, and Fang (Who, at least I've been told, looked a lot like Roger), and Gasman. That last one was the most ridiculous. It's a wonder anyone took the guy seriously. Apparently, he and some other guy named Iggy liked playing with explosives.

Eventually though, the day came when Max was well again. She was going to leave for sure, there wasn't a doubt in my mind about it. As everyone perched around on the couches and tables, wings partially outstretched, watching intently as Max removed her bandages for the final time, there was a solemn air. In a way, the younger ones had accepted her as part of the family. Considering it had only been a week and a half since she dropped in, I found this much too trusting. It wasn't going to make watching her leave any easier either. I certainly didn't know when or where we'd ever see her again; that is, if we ever saw her again. Max smiled triumphantly to herself as she peeled off the last strip of gauze. I was suddenly happy Ralph was gone at school today…he would throw a hissy fit when he saw the mess she'd made.

"Are you leaving now?" Simon asked sadly.

"I have to go, guys." Max responded deftly, yet strongly, "My flock is waiting for me."

"But, we'll miss you!" Maurice cried.

"Hmph." Roger growled. I could tell, he really couldn't care any less.

"I know." Max continued, paying no mind to Roger's grumblings. "I'll miss you guys too. You remind me of my own family, though. It makes me kind of sad…If I wait around here any longer, they might leave me behind."

"I doubt that." Simon piped, "I don't think anybody could leave _you_ behind, Max."

"That's nice of you, Simon." Max smiled, starting for the balcony already.

"Yeah, you're really nice. I bet they're still right where you left 'em." Maurice took up as well. More out of the urge to one-up Simon than anything else.

"Well…" Maximum thought for a moment, chewing something over in her mind. I sighed. There would be a lot of tears from those two after she left, that's for sure. I hated crying babies. "…if you guys think that, why don't you come with me?"

"What." I stated aloud.

"Come with me." Max insisted, "The School will find you soon if you stay here. I have a tracker in my arm."

Roger hissed and folded his wings around himself. "Damn it! I told you!" He shouted, "Jack, you idiot! Now we have no choice but to move!"

"I honestly don't think you would mind being a nomad, Roger" I said flatly. I was still trying to process Max's offer in my head. What were the pros and cons of this? What would we be leaving behind? Not a lot, really. I mean, we didn't really have much as far as belongings went…

"I'm not leaving without Ralph." I blurted out.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Roger groaned.

"That's probably not an option." Max grimaced, "Though, I hate to agree with Roger, he's right. Ralph isn't like us…"

"So?"

"How is he going to fly, dumbass?" Roger taunted, "Blondie's got no wings."

"Oh…" I sighed. My heart dropped. I couldn't just leave everything behind though…especially Ralph. He'd been there for us in our toughest times. He deserved better than being forgotten. Hell, he was probably coming back home from school and the grocery store right now, loaded with groceries for our greedy mouths. If we left…and he came home to nothing but silence…I don't think I'd be able to live with myself. "We can figure something out though. We're stronger than most! I could carry him, or something!"

"That's a bit uncomfortable sounding." Maximum grimaced.

"It's temporary." I defended.

"What about his car?" Simon offered, "Could Ralph follow us in that?"

"It's worth a shot…I suppose." Max shrugged, "When does he get home? Can we pick him up?"

"He's on his way now, probably." I said, enthusiastic, "We could meet him at the grocers. Roger knows how to drive, right Rog?"

"Sure…"

"Righto!" I exclaimed, "Let's do it! Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

"ADVENTURE!" Maurice joined in.

"Yay?" Simon tried.

"We're leaving now." Max ordered. It was easy to tell that she was the ordained leader of her flock. There would probably be some rough roads ahead as our flocks joined, but it would be worth it, I was sure. Maybe. "Are you ready? We're gonna have to be quick. Pack light."

"We're not packing anything." I said, "There's nothing here for us. We have everything we need."

"Speak for yourself." Roger snorted, "I'm taking a box of matches."

"Why?" I flatly sighed, "Should I even ask?"

"No." He retorted. He retreated into his room and came back a minute later. It didn't look like he'd done anything; but if my suspicions were correct, that was a knife at his belt and a box of matches sticking out of his pocket. "Now I'm ready."

"Good. Let's go." Without looking, Max fell backwards from our balcony and out into the great blue beyond. At first, we were all curious to where she had gone. We ran to the balcony rail and looked over the edge. A moment later, we were all buffeted with a rush of air as Max shot past us, up into the sky. "Well, what are you waiting for!?" She called.

"Hate to admit it, but God it feels good to be free!" Roger cheered. In a split second, he launched himself over the rail, free from any worries of being punished or yelled at. He screamed through the air, not as graceful as Max had been, but somehow more intimidating. It had been forever since I'd seen our full wingspan though, and I had to admit, I was impressed. Also, a bit frightened. What if I forgot how to fly? Roger had been practicing for all his life…but the rest of us…how would we fair?  
"That looks fun!" Maurice crooned, leaning dangerously close to the edge of the rail.

"Hey, careful!" I warned. But, before I could reach him, Maurice had already vaulted over the rail and joined Roger and Max in the sky. He seemed to have no problem with his wings.

"Are you two coming?!" Max urged, "Come on! The air is great!"

"Chicken!" Roger egged on from above, circling in lazy, yet dizzying, spins. "Balkbalk!"

"Oh, shut it!" I screamed up at him, "I'm coming, I'm coming! Just hold your falcons, fancy-feathers!"

"Go on, then!" Roger sang.

"I'll go." Simon offered, "It can't be that bad. If Maurice can do it, I'm sure I can too." He began unhandedly scaling the bars of the rail. I argued with myself over whether or not I should stop him, or possibly go first. Again though, before I could make my move Simon was already tumbling over the rail, wings first. He scrambled in a rapid free-fall at first, unsure of his flightless feathers. Soon enough though, he captured the air underneath his deep auburn plumes and halted mid-air. He stayed there for a moment, not quite certain what came next. Then, making up his mind, he pumped his over-sized wings and joined the others thirty feet above me.

"It's now or never." I said to myself, looking down to the street. The cars bustled along below, honking in protest but paying no mind to me. I swallowed once and closed my eyes, then made my way to the edge of the concrete balcony, on the other side of the rail. The wind ruffled my feathers against my back. I suddenly felt very cold. There was a muffled sound as Roger landed behind me on the rail.

"You scared?" He seemed to be asking genuinely. I backed up against the edge slowly, my bare feet curling against the world below.

"Maybe. Maybe just a little bit." I admitted uneasily, "I…I haven't flown in almost two years."

"You should've practiced." Roger tsked, "But, since I'm feeling rather bad for you today, I'll give you a beginner's tip."

"Okay." I agreed.

"Don't take advice from a sadist." Before I could react, or even unfold my wings, Roger shoved me off the balcony and into the edge of existence. I screamed, and some strangers from other apartments came out and started panicking at the sight of me, tumbling ever downwards.

I tried to remember what to do.

_Unfold your wings_, I ordered myself first. I did so, and they fell with me, limp in the rush of wind. The ground was getting closer. I clutched my hands to my chest.

_Next, curl them towards you. Capture the air. Feel it move._

I tried to calm down; I tried to feel the air. Surprisingly enough, I could. Little currents formed at my skin, tickling my body. Taking a deep breath, I stiffened my feathers.

And I stopped.

It seemed as if, in that one moment, everything suddenly made sense. My life had purpose again. I was who I was meant to be. I pushed upwards in the sky, flapping my wings and feeling the currents and where they lead. Soon, I was soaring through the air with alarming speed. I cheered jubilantly, performing a 360 spin. Too early, though, I realized, as I fell out of the airstream I'd been riding momentarily and had to regain control. I understood why Roger escaped all the time for this…it had been such a long, long time since I'd flown like this. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like.

I threw out my arms and felt the wind on my fingers. That felt so strange…but at the same time, great. It felt natural.

Too soon, I met up with the others. I zoomed past them and went a little higher. I wanted to hide the fact that I wasn't quite sure how to stop yet.

"What're you waiting for?!" I shouted to them, below, "Let's go!"

Laughing, they met up with me in the sky. We left behind the astonished cries and faces below, and began writing our own stories. I almost forgot that we were supposed to pick up Ralph. I felt like this was the beginning of the end of the world as I knew it.


	5. I Glued The Keys In The Ignition

CHAPTER FOUR: I Accidently Glued The Keys In The Ignition

Roger, though not too pleased with it, headed back down to the ground to retrieve Ralph's car. It's a good thing Ralph had left it behind today; the school was within walking distance, and so was the grocery. It's also a good thing, at least in this instance, that Roger happened to be a master pick-pocket. I couldn't think of any situation other than this one where I'd praised Roger for swiping Ralph's keys.

We kept a close eye on the used, silver Jetta as it cruised below us. We dove around the buildings, trying to keep out of sight. Luckily, no one on the ground or in the many apartment complexes noticed us. It was hard to believe people were so ignorant of the things going on around them.

Suddenly, my pocket beeped. I fished around for my cell phone and pulled it out mid-flight, pushing the green button that let me talk and holding it to my ear without checking the caller ID.

"Hello, this is Jack." I announced.

"JACK-YOU ARE—WHAT'S GOING—I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I recognized it as Ralph's voice immediately, even through all the wind and the static.

"Hold on, Ralph." I laughed, "We'll have to talk in person. You're breaking up pretty bad."

"WHAT? I COULDN'T HEAR YOU!" I held the receiver away from my ear and dropped back in our formation a bit. Boy, he was loud! I bet Roger was throwing a fit right now.

"Just wait, okay? We'll talk when we stop!" I shouted back. Then, to avoid further argument, I hung up and switched the phone off, throwing it back in my pocket. I rolled my eyes and caught up with Max at the head of the line again. It was difficult to avoid getting whipped in the face by her wings at first. She was clearly enjoying having her wings back to full health; I could tell she missed flying, even when she was at our apartment. The way she glanced out the window, even when the TV was on, and the way she stayed up late just to go out on the balcony and feel the wind at night, told all.

"What's up?" Max sharply asked when I got close enough, trying to steer clear of her eagle feathers.

"Roger has Ralph. You're in the lead now." I told her.

"Oh." She said back, "Thanks. We just keep going, I guess. Can they follow us from down there?"

"I think so."

"Alright. Let's keep going."

So, we followed Max. I'm not sure what lead us out of the apartment in the first place actually, and it hit me suddenly in that single moment. Certainly, it wasn't only because Simon and Maurice would miss her…I WAS tempted by the adventure of it; lured out of the confines of our safe house by promises I wasn't even sure would be fulfilled. There was that age-old question though, that bit out the back of my mind. No matter how much I denied it, I was curious about where I'd come from. If I found out who created us, I felt as if everything would make sense again. It would be like flying…maybe better. It's not like I wanted parents though. They would just hold me back.

"Hey, Jack." Simon said as the skyscrapers faded behind us and the Jetta below became fully visible for the first time. We were able to fly over it now without worries. "What do you think of the country? I've never seen so much grass…"

"It's okay, I guess." I verbally shrugged. "Flying is more exciting though."

"That's true." Simon smiled, "You know, I've never really flown before. Last time, when I was younger, you guys just held me by my shirt collar in the air. Those experiences gave my bad vibes about it ever since…It's much better than that."

"Oh yeah." I laughed, "You were three then. Wouldn't stop crying for the life of you…I sometimes miss those days."

"Me too."

Things went like that for some time. We just flew, not thinking about it really, the volkswagon marking a little trail beneath our hands and feet as the pavement turned over to dirt and gravel, maybe making the occasional small-talk. I didn't mark the exact passing of time, but before I knew it the sun was sinking below the horizon, and the sky we surfed on had been tinted pink.

"We should probably stop soon!" Max shouted above the roar of the wind in our ears, "Just as soon as we find a good patch of trees! Keep your eyes opened!"

"…Did she say _trees_?" Maurice muttered, "Why trees?"  
"You sleep in them, dumbass." Roger remarked from the side. He'd left Ralph to driving the car since we hit the countryside, and seemed to be enjoying himself. His wings, I noticed for the first time, had a stranger curve to them than the rest of ours did, and they whistled whereas ours were quiet. I turned my ear slightly to his direction and listened carefully. It sounded like a hawk, screaming faintly before descending on its prey.

"What?! You sleep in trees?!" Maurice exclaimed, almost falling out of the air. I stifled a laugh. That didn't mean I was any less alarmed.

"Get used to it." Max shot at him.

"I like sleeping outside." Roger scoffed, "It's better than those sorry excuses for beds we have back home at least." Without waiting for a smart reply, he banked sharply to the right and put the formation out of his way. His wings were motionless as he flew. That's when I realized what he was doing; Roger was riding the air currents. That took a lot of talent. Maybe those evenings of sneaking out of the apartment hadn't been in vain after all. The whistling still bothered me though. I'd have to ask him about that.

"Up ahead." Max suddenly announced, "There's a copse over there that will do." I followed her gaze and could just make out the patchy forest in the distance and fading light. "Someone phone Ralph and tell him we're stopping."

"Got it." Maurice offered. He whipped out his phone, nearly dropped it, then hurriedly texted our follower below. He updated a moment later: "Alright, he'll follow us into the grass. He says he doesn't mind. His tires are shredded to hell now anyway."

"Good." Max motioned with her finger quickly. Simon and I exchanged a confused glance. Then, Max spiraled down in front of us and aimed for the ground. We all just watched in amazement, trying to figure out what in the high heavens Maximum Ride was doing.

"You guys plan on sleeping in the air?" Roger sighed, suddenly back with the group.

"N-no!" I stammered.

"Then, land already, retard."

"…"

"Oh, you gotta be joking!" He laughed, like we'd left a pleasant surprise on his doorstep. "You forgot how to land! Watch and learn."

I'm not quite sure, to this very day, that I've ever seen any of us land like Roger does. I don't know if it's because he's the only one who can pull it off, or he's just stupid and dangerous like that, but either way…

He completely folded his wings in and tore through the air. I thought he was going to crash at first, and the whistling in his wings had turned to screaming, but just as he came within touch of the ground, he unfolded his wings again and stopped himself, touching down on the grass with a single foot. I gawked in amazement. He met my gaze proudly.

"Don't do that!" Max yelled up at us, "You'll tear your wings right off! Do it like I did!"

"Okay." I said uneasily, mostly to myself.

I could tell this was going to be a long journey.

…..

The night was fitful, to say the least. I couldn't really ever imagine myself sleeping in the branches of a tree, of all places. It was terribly uncomfortable, and the cold never seemed to leave me alone. Maybe, someday, after enough of this, I would get used to it. That is, if I ever made it that far.

"_sigh._"

Nobody answered. I shifted against the rough bark of the evergreen and rustled my feathers around me. I didn't think it could any colder. Even my breath protested against the drop in temperature, billowing out in puffy plumes. I shivered and squinted my eyes; night vision had never been my thing. Roger and Simon had a knack for it though, and apparently Max and all of her flock did too. From what I was able to gather, my whole 'family' was created way before Max's was. That's probably why all of us were so much more…unstable? Unfounded? I'm not sure what wording you would use in this situation. It's not like we were insane, we had just always felt a little too comfortable around humans, a little too fuzzy in the mind.

Now that I think about it, I didn't even remember anything before my twelfth birthday. That was the day I broke out of the School, four years ago.

With that in my mind, I tried to settle in and get some shut eye. It took a while, but with a warmth of re-assurance, I felt myself slipping away.

…_._

_ I woke up._

_ I was fresh, new, yet I ached. Who am I? What am I? I stretched out my hands, my legs, my wings, strapped against my back and unable to go any farther than a few centimeters. My breaths were ragged, my eyes were hollow. I felt the darkness in front of me with curious fingers, gripped the metal bars of my confines. Rage built me up. Why I felt this way, I did not know._

_ But, I wanted to be free._

_ "AAAGH!" I cried out, furious. Words flowed into my mind, freshening the hatred into tangible thoughts. "LET ME OUT!"_

_ "Jack, shut the hell up." A tiny, yet hissing, voice demanded, "S-some of us are tr-trying to get-t some ss-sleep here!"_

_ "Roger, he's gone mad." A different voice, even smaller, piped up, "What are we going to do now!? He's gone mad, Roger, mad as a fox!"_

_ "You d-don't ev-ven know-w what a f-fox is-s." The first speaker, the one with the awful stutter, shot back, "S-so yo-ou need-d t-to sh-shut up too."_

_ "uh?" A young child's voice questioned._

_ "Nothing, Simon." The second voice, Maurice, cooed, "Go back to sleep. We're just having an argument."_

_ The third voice didn't speak up again. Instead, the first took up its plaintive whines._

_ "Jack, y-you ass-s-hole! Wh-why can't you-u j-just-t go to slee…ee…"_

_ "What's wrong, Roger?" Maurice asked curiously. I turned an ear, curious as to what exactly was going on here. These people sounded familiar, and I knew their names, as well as excepted that they were… 'friends'… but, as to what they were like, I couldn't remember. So, I'd just have to figure it out by listening. _

_ "…I…"_

_ "What?"_

_ "ah…I…AAAAAAAAAAUUUUIGHHH!" He let out a cry so shrill it cut through my ears. I clasped my head in pain as the boy in the cage next to me continued to scream bloody murder. It truly sounded like someone was killing him._

_ "Roger!" Maurice tried to calm, "Roger, stop it! What's happening!? Roger, what are they doing to you!? ROGER!"_

_ "Roger?!" I called, though I'm not quite sure what good it would do if I couldn't reach him, "Roger? Are you okay?"_

_ The screaming continued._

_ "Mo!" The third voice came back into the picture once more, calling on Maurice with a toddler's squeal, "Kinoo de ting!"_

_ "What?!" Maurice yelled back, "Oh, wait…yeah, yeah, gotcha!"_

_ An overwhelming calm dropped down on me like a curtain made of lead. I slumped against the cage bars and my hands found each other. What the…what just happened? In the adjacent cage, the screaming faded. It broke down into heavy panting, then, a thump as Roger fell._

_ "Are you okay?" I repeated, more for the sake of saying something than anything else._

_ "…no."_

_ "What happened?" Maurice asked quietly. His concentration was obviously somewhere else, probably in whatever the young Simon had him do._

_ "Just another thing." Roger muttered._

_ "Oh…" Maurice sighed, "Wait, Roger! Your stutter is gone!"_

_ "d-damn it-t!" Roger shouted back, "Y-you know-w ev-very time you ment-tion it th-the st-stutter comes-s back-ck!"_

_ "Yeah. I think it's cool." Maurice admitted._

_ "It's-s-s n-not-t!"_

_ "Hey, whatever fun we can have here is up for grabs." Maurice said, "Ain't that right, Jack?"_

_ "Sure?" I answered, not too confident in anything I had to say at the moment._

_ "It's something you told me!" Maurice accused, "Remember, when we killed that eraser together? It's the first time we met, I don't know how you could forget it. I certainly haven't!"_

_ "No." Simon muttered, downtrodden._

_ "Hey, don't pretend like you didn't have fun watching."_

_ "What are we doing?!" I asked no one in particular for no exact reason. This friendly banter in the shadows was making me upset. I rattled at my cage bars violently, pushing against them with my feet. I tried persistently, arrogantly, to stretch and break the straps around my torso, binding my feathers. It seemed so rational that they'd be there, I didn't think twice about their strangeness. "Just sitting around here, talking, when we should be escaping!"_

_ "You have gone batty." Maurice moaned._

_ "Mad." Simon agreed._

_ "I-I th-think it's-s a go-od ide-a." Roger affirmed my position, the only one who would. I stopped my struggle in surprise, and just managed to make him out in the darkness as he got back on his knees, having to crouch to fit. His wings were dark and missable, and it seemed that everything about him was just the same. Except for his eyes; they were unmistakably scarlet. "If-f you-u h-h-have a p-lan, I'm-m game."_

_ "…okay. Let me think." I muttered._

_ The silence after my words seemed to say that everyone agreed with me. I took the time to mull my accumulated thoughts into a bundle, to sort them out. Considering I couldn't remember anything past just a few minutes ago, aside from snippets, it wasn't very much. I tested the strength of my wings against the straps that held them once more. I bet I could break that. _

_ "What happens if our restraints break?" I asked absent-mindedly._

_ "Then the doctors come in and replace them." Maurice responded, "Why"_

_ "Will they open the cage doors?"_

_ "Most likely."_

_ "Hehehe." Roger chuckled grimly, "I s-see. I like it-t."_

_ "Everyone, try to break your wings free!" I commanded, letting authority seep into my tones, "Then, when they come to replace them, we're breaking out of here! Can Simon manage?" I finally asked. I figured he couldn't, by the size of his voice. _

_ "Maybe. I dunno." Maurice responded for him._

_ "Well, if he can't, then we'll have to be creative. Nobody gets left behind, got that?"_

_ "G-got it-t."_

_ "Cool."_

…...

I came to suddenly, sent gasping out of my dreams. With a start, I realized I had fallen from my perch and landed on the ground. I looked towards the branches above, sitting myself up on an elbow. Seemed as if everyone else had the brains to stay put. I sighed. I always hated memory-dreams. They gave me the jitters.

Well, I thought, I'm certainly not getting any more sleep tonight. Not after that freak show. I vaulted up, using my wings for balance, and started walking through the border of the small wood. There was nothing else to do' plus, it made it seem like I hadn't fallen out of the tree after all. If anyone woke up and saw me, they would just assume I was restless. I didn't want to look lame in front of my flock.

I started humming into the chilly, almost-dawn air. I experimented with different wing positions, walked back to the tree, walked to the car, only to find Ralph missing. He was probably doing the same thing I was, just in a different part of the forest. I decided to go look for him, just giving myself one more small task to complete; something to keep my mind busy and the thoughts and misgivings at bay.

"Hey!" I whispered, testing, "Hey, anyone here?"

"No." Came a teasing reply.

"Ralph?"

"Who else, stupid." He scoffed. I looked around for the source of the voice. It didn't sound too far away, but was still a ways off. "I'm over here." He hinted. I glanced up and laughed. He had gone and climbed a stubby, twisted pine with balding needles. His blonde hair, messy and spiked up some, was a dead give-away in the night.

"What's up?" I asked, leaning against the hood of the car. He looked at me through the arcing wood.

"Me, obviously." Ralph shot back, "Seeing as how I'm kind of stuck in this freaking tree."

"Do you want me to come get you?" I asked.

"No." He insisted, "I can get down myself, when I'm good and ready. Don't worry yourself over it, Jack. Plus, if we're going to be on the run from now on, I might as well learn how to do things myself."

"Fine." I laughed, "But, just what were you doing in said 'freaking tree'?"

"…I don't know." He said, faintly. I could still hear it though.

"That's no answer." I scoffed.

"Well, maybe I just…" He flushed red, and went on, trying to find foot-holds in the rotting, dank bark. "…maybe I wanted to see what it was like."

"You weren't honestly going to sleep in that tree, were you?" I asked skeptically. After a few moments with no response, I asked again, "Were you?"

"So what if I was!?" Ralph replied indignantly.

"Oh, come on, Ralph!" I complained, "You're ridiculous! It's not very comfortable up there, so there's really no reason to make a big fuss over it! Why would you even want to sleep in a damned tree anyway? Hell, I don't even want to."

"Then don't!" He yelled. I could tell he was joking again, but he was still being irrational. I rolled my eyes and frowned.

"One more smart remark and I'll pull you out of that tree by your toes." I told him sternly.

"Come and get me!" He dared. I snorted skeptically. But then: "No, seriously, I'm stuck. I could really use some of that help now, Jack."

I sighed and took off, still not very confident with my landing skills. But, that was a mountain I would climb later, about five minutes to be exact, and now was…well, now. I reached the top of the tree and clung unsteadily to the uppermost branch, sending the whole thing swaying to and fro. Ralph clung on for dear life.

"You just had to do that!" He accused peevishly.

"I didn't know how else to get up here." I stated.

"Geez, just get me down."

"Well," I started, slowly and easily, "I'm not sure…exactly how to do that either…"  
"Oh, for the love of…I'll find my own way, then!"

"Didn't you already try that?"

"I might have. I've tried a lot of things." Ralph chuckled, "Sometimes, you just need to try one more time for something to work."


	6. I Hate Joint Families

Kingdom Come

Chapter Five: Joint Families Have Always Caused Problems, Especially When Said Families are Mutants and Tend To Be Quite Hormonal (Yes, Roger, I'm looking at you)

_Naturally, my plan failed, Maurice chickened out on us and Simon didn't even try. Roger and I managed well enough, but...it all went bad, right from the get-go. I was caught again and Roger killed somebody. They dragged him away, kicking and screaming, to a door and a bright room._

_ I didn't see him for a week._

_ "We're all slated for extermination anyway." Maurice sulked, "He's just lucky he didn't have to wait."_

_ "Mo..." Simon whimpered._

_ "Sorry, Si, but it's true." Maurice shot back._

_ "Stop it!" I warned, getting fed up with all of the self-pity that practically replaced our air, "We're going to get out of here! We'll escape!"_

_ "Yeah, right."_

_ I sighed and backed down. No use in disagreeing._

_ Three days later, and much to our surprise, Roger was thrown harshly back into his cage. We all scrambled to get a closer look, to catch a glimpse of him in the dark._

_ "Thank God, he's still alive..." Maurice breathed. Roger coughed raspily in reply._

_ "...Let those damn wolves have their fun with me..." He answered, half to himself, his voice shaking and weak, "No more escape plans for a while, okay?"_

_ "Roger, your stutter's gone!" Maurice exclaimed._

_ "..." He didn't say anything for a moment, as if lamenting over something lost. I wondered, did like the taste of the stutters on his tongue? "I guess it is."_

_ The mood from his direction was solemn from then on. It seemed that Maurice's tricks had no effect on Roger anymore. Nothing did._

_ I began to re-evaluate myself, my life, what I would do._

_ What would I do?_

…...

I wasn't exactly sure when they showed up, but they did anyway; Max's flock, I mean. One minute, we were in the clouds and the next Max and some dark girl I'd never seen before were tumbling out of the air in some crazy, drunken sky-hug. We all back-pedaled and landed on my signal. Then, the stand-off commenced. Max's friends on one side, mine on the other. And, was it just me or did Roger just duplicate himself? Because, I could swear that there were two of him. He began to glare at his double (Although, the double had neater hair and different features) in a menacing way, fluffing up his feathers. I rolled my eyes and looked at Max, who was currently smiling at the youngest members, two little girls and a boy.

"This is your flock?" I asked.

"Yeah, duh." Max smiled, "I think that's pretty dang obvious."

"Just making sure." I said back.

"Who's that? Who's talking?" A tall, pale boy asked. His hair was a pallid yellow, with darker dyed tips, and his eyes were squinted shut. Max touched his shoulder gently and it hit me suddenly. That must be Iggy, the blind one. The Roger duplicate was probably Fang, which made the other boy Gazzy and the girls nudge and Angel. I wasn't sure which one was which though (Girls were all the same to me), and there was also a...dog? Why was there a dog? Nobody had informed me of this.

"That's Jack." Max told him, "He's the leader of his flock. They're going to be joining us from now on. They're looking for their parents too."

Well, I wouldn't say that, but whatever. At this point, I wasn't even sure what the hell we had tagged along for. A change of scenery?

"More like us?" Iggy gasped.

"Ooh! Friends!" The darker girl clapped, "We'll be best friends forever! No, make that best feather-flock friends forever! Best bird friends of a feather! Heehee! We'll eat together and fly together and nest at night together and find our parents together and—"

"-Nudge!" Max stopped her, "Geez, calm your feathers!"

"Haha! Sorry!" Nudge apologized meekly, and finally shut the heck up.

"Anyway, that's Jack." Max motioned to me. I smiled proudly under their gazes, standing up a little taller. Really, though, I had no reason to be proud of my flock. "And that's Maurice."

Maurice did and theatrical little bow and grinned cheesily. I almost did a face-palm. Behind us, Ralph caught up in the car and pulled over. I saw Max's flock tense up, ready to take off at a moment's notice. Gazzy though, he smiled back at Maurice. I could tell already that this was the start of a marvelous BBFFF-ship or whatever Nudge had called it.

"It's a pleasure to meet'cha!" Maurice exclaimed.

"And that," Max went on, gesturing to yet another, "Is Simon. He's kind of quiet. In a good way."

"Thank you for the introduction, Maximum." Simon said very formally. Max glanced for the first time at Fang and Roger, still staring each other down, death in their eyes and frowns on their faces.

"...And that's Roger." Max grimaced. I laughed aloud at her expression. Nobody liked Roger, that was a given. "He's...uh...He's..."

"-Roger." My whole flock teased in response. Roger was Roger, that's all there is to it.

"You guys suck." Roger darkly muttered, breaking away from his staring contest with an unamused face. He pressed a finger to his temple; he often did that.

"Max." The one called Fang spoke up for the first time, "Is this a good idea?"

"Yeah, it's fine!" Max waved off in good-spirits, "I've been with them for a while now, they're cool."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, 100% positive, Fang." Max crossed her arms and smirked at him sideways. Unlike our brooding flack-mate, this Fang made no efforts to kill his leader. He didn't even seem mildly surprised or bothered by her tongue.

"Fine." He consented. Then, noticing Ralph jogging up and joining us on the 'Jack side', Fang added: "Who's that?"

"Ralph." I pointedly said, pushing the blonde forward. He shrunk back from the stares. "He's ours."

"What's with the car?" Gazzy spoke up in a flurry of excitement, "Can't he fly? Are his wings broken?"

"Did he get in a horrible accident? Did it hurt? Did he die?" Nudge picked up with a steady stream of pointless questions; which probably would go unanswered until the end of time. I bit my lip and rolled my eyes at Max, who shrugged. Ralph fell back and stood by my shoulder quietly. "Is that his special power? Can he come back to life?! How long have you guys been away from The School? Is he friendly? Do you have a girlfriend? Does he have a girlfriend?"

"No." I shut her up this time, waving my hand apathetically, "To all of that."

"...sorry." Nudge smiled. I couldn't not forgive her. She was too cute.

"That's fine." I dismissed, "And no, he doesn't have wings. He's human. 100%. Au Natural. Whatever the hell you want to call it."

Fang grimaced. "Then, why is he here?"

"Because he's with us." I repeated adamantly, trying to assert myself, "I'm not leaving any of my flock behind, and Ralph's no exception."

"But he's not...us." Fang went on, "He's human. I vote against it. It could be dangerous."

"Nobody asked you!" I shouted, "There's no vote going on here!"

"Hey, guys!" Max intervened, stepping between the lines with her palms facing each one of us. She looked stressed out beyond all belief. I stepped down, trying to calm myself. "Stop this. Ralph's fine. As long as he can keep up in a car."

"I can handle myself." Ralph angrily piped in, "I'm not useless...I'll...cook...or something like that."

"Whatever." Fang huffed.

"Yeah, whatever." I shot back.

"I have a feeling this is going to go well." Max said, mostly to herself.

Roger, meanwhile, recovering from his headache and his upset from the landing, crossed his arms and gave us all a look equal only to death. It was becoming all too clear that he hated us all.

"Yeah..." He sighed, "Fuck all of this. I want to go home."


End file.
